The First Air Battles & Air Aces of WWI | A Not-So-Brief History Of Military Aviation #3

Late 1915 saw the arrival of the 'Fokker Scourge', where the German air force reigned supreme. This began one of the first true mechanical arms races, and the conflict in the sky gave birth to the first "Aces" of the war.

It would also see a shift in tactics, and a type of reformation take hold of the air services on the Western Front. Combat aircraft would become organised in the first dedicated fighter squadrons, rather than being handed out piecemeal. Advancements would be made in the development of bombers, and the user of Zeppelins to raid English soil would become commonplace.

1916 saw the battles of Verdun and the Somme, which saw aircraft utilised in larger numbers for the first time, setting the foundation for the final two years of the war which would see aircraft production enter an industrial level.

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Producing these videos is a hobby of mine. I have a passion for history, and personally own a large collection of books, journals and other texts, and endeavor to do as much research as possible. However if there are any mistakes, please don't hesitate to reach out and correct anything :)

[carmium]

My grandfather was a gunnery instructor and proudly recounted how Albert Ball was one of his pupils.

[somerandomguy___]

Man if only history videos of this quality such as yours were liked by the algorithm and boosted by it because I truly value it more than any piece of consumerist garbage that you'd usually see, especially on the trending tab

[timgosling]

Nice shot of L70, a fine Zeppelin but proving highly susceptible to the incendiary rounds fired by a DH4 in Aug 18.
The manoeuvre invented by Immelmann is known as the Immelmann 'turn', rather than 'curve' and is still effective today as a basic fighter manoeuvre. And it's good fun for some random pilot's playtime.
All I'd add is a comment on the difference in basic strategies of air ops as followed by the Allies and the Germans. The French and RFC tended to operate over and past the front line, which made artillery spotting more effective and enabled greater initiative in Offensive Counter Air missions as they are known today. As a fun fact, 'going sausage side' is still in current use as a term in the RAF for crossing into enemy territory. The Germans, on the other hand, tended to keep their aircraft on their side of the lines and let the enemy come to them. This improved the chances for any German pilots who were forced down, and allowed them some assistance from friendly flak, but impeded their recce and spotting efforts. It also gave the Germans an advantage in that the prevailing winds were generally Westerly, which meant that Allied aircraft would be returning into wind, prolonging their time in hostile airspace and making them easier targets. A good example is the long running fight between a certain Lanoe Hawker and a Lt Richthofen, later famous, which was particularly difficult for Hawker as he had both to duel his enemy and make it back across the lines before he ran out of fuel. He did not succeed.

[uiator]

Extremely well researched with very fine production values. I especially appreciate that the pictures shown match the script. Having commanded the USAF’s 1st Reconnaissance Squadron during its centennial (2013) and having read the history previously, I was familiar with much of what was covered here, but your excellent retelling of the history “fills in the gaps” and really brings the history to life. I have viewed most of your videos since the inception of this channel (I assume you’ve had other channels) and must say, keep up the work, your efforts in this area are second to none.

[dananichols]

Those large format, bulky cameras & huge negatives gave such crisp, sharp images -- seeing the tonnage of huge support gear, transport, chemistry, whopper heavy cameras and all the folks to produce the end product prints... vs. today.

[Jesuswinsbirdofmichigan]

Engaging, start to finish. Rare quality with the subject coverage.

[jackconnelly]

A very good overview. I know this subject well, but enjoy the photos and art and the way you present it. Great job.

[patjohnson]

Very informative and well done. Many of these photographs must be very rare.

[TheHypnogog]

The photo illustrations are pretty epic. I do love the look of the ol' DIII. Such a beautiful killing machine. So shark like.

[jakobrinsdorf]

I really enjoy this history of air combat series, it's a nice way to get into subtopics which I haven't heard of before.
Nicely done and keep them coming

[ThePilotever]

A rare gem of a channel, keep it growing Rex

[davidmackie]

Great series. Very informative. Thankyou!

[ogscarlt]

Just wanted to say thank you rex for these wonderful video's I know it's time intensive & takes a lot of effort to track down all the old relative archive material & sources to make these videos this informative but I do hope your video output increases as I've already gone through almost all of your video uploads 😅

[VikingTeddy]

Just discovered the channel. Couldn't have wished for a better Christmas present.

We will watch your career with great interest.

[marcosfernandez]

Nice video, congratulations!!!! The photos are very well selected, and the presentation is good also.

[thomasrichter]

it's allways impressive to me how avation changed from the the early years and 20's the 60's and today

[GrumpyGrobbyGamer]

Great video. Very informative! Thank you

[asnrobert]

About forty years ago, I read a book, "No Parachute" by Arthur Gould Lee, a fighter pilot with Britain's Royal Flying Corps during WW1. One time, he and a few other pilots were detailed to ferry Be-2cs (nicknamed the "Quirk") to an aerodrome at the front. Lee delivered his aircraft with no difficulty, but the other pilots crash-landed theirs at various locations. Lee wrote he felt like a cad for not crashing his, because everyone liked seeing death traps like Quirks written off, especially new ones. In one of the book's appendices, Lee has a scathing critique of the Royal Aircraft Factory, which continued to crank out aircraft like the BE-2c long after they were obsolete.

[henrythewhite]

I love these videos, but the photos of aircraft soaring over cavalry is the icing on the cake for me. I don't know why, I just love that dichotomy!

[mkendallpk]

After watching a few other of your videos and this one. I find that you are so good that I had to subscribe to your channel. Keep up the good work. It is appreciated.